K9 sweeps indicate high likelihood of human remains in Centennial Mills fire

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On Thursday, Aug. 6, Portland Fire & Rescue and the Human Remains Detection K9 Teams conducted two sweeps inside the burned-out Centennial Mills warehouse, which was devastated by a catastrophic fire on Aug. 2.

Both searches resulted in positive alerts, indicating the potential presence of human remains within the rubble inside the building. Based on these findings, investigators believe there is a high likelihood that human remains are present within the material inside the structure.

As the investigation continues, Portland Fire & Rescue will retain custody of the site. To support both the investigation and public safety, the PF&R lead investigator will be embedded with the Portland Permitting & Development workgroup responsible for planning the building's demolition.

The demolition process is expected to play a critical role in the investigation by removing unstable structural hazards surrounding the area of concern. This will allow investigators to safely access and conduct a thorough forensic examination of the locations identified during the K9 searches.

Yesterday, Portland Permitting & Development issued to the property owner a Notification of Dangerous Structure and Order to Demolish the building, which includes the roof-mounted water tank.

The notification requires the owner to do the following:

• Immediately disconnect any utilities to the site.
• Work with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to ensure street closure measures remain in place until the hazard has been removed.
• Maintain a collapse hazard perimeter until the hazard is removed to prevent unauthorized access to the site.
• Provide a demolition plan to Portland Permitting & Development that includes fall protection provisions.
• Maintain 24-hour security at the site until the collapse hazard is removed.
• Begin the removal of the water tank and the demolition of the mill as soon as possible and no later than Friday, Aug. 14.

The owner is engaging a structural engineer and demolition contractor and is working with the City to provide a demolition plan that meets the City's requirements to remove the building safely.

Find more information and updates at Portland.gov/Centennial-Mills.